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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/30064221">NightWitch: Aftermath</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/MauveIdiot/pseuds/MauveIdiot'>MauveIdiot</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>NightWitch (Wolverine and the X-Men Cartoon) [5]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Wolverine And The X-Men (Cartoon)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Healing, Hurt/Comfort, Nightmares</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 17:47:51</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,148</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/30064221</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/MauveIdiot/pseuds/MauveIdiot</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Set sometime after my fic NightWitch: Horsemen and I highly suggest reading that one first.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Wanda Maximoff/Kurt Wagner</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>NightWitch (Wolverine and the X-Men Cartoon) [5]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2210667</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>NightWitch: Aftermath</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>WANDA</strong>
</p><p>
  <em>In her dreams she was back in Sinister's labs.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>The telepath's cold presence in her mind. So many terrible memories dredged from the dust.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>She didn't want to remember-</em>
</p><p>Suddenly she was awake in bed, Kurt's cozy room at the institute lit by a furious red light. <em>Her</em> furious red light. Sparklike energy dripped and sputtered from fists clenched in the sheets, searing holes into the thin fabric.</p><p>"Wanda?" Kurt shifted, yellow eyes blinking blearily open as he unconsciously pulled her closer. "Is everything alright?"</p><p>She inhaled sharply. Focused on the soothing lilt of his voice. She didn't want to alarm him; he never got enough rest as it was. And between his fight for the future and her responsibilities to Genosha, this was all they had. Stolen nights. A few hours together. She didn't want to ruin it.</p><p>The red light dimmed to nothing. Her breathing evened out.</p><p>"I'm fine, go back to sleep."</p><p>"Nein, nein." He shook his head, brow furrowed with sleepy confusion. "Tell me...nightmares?"</p><p>"Sinister," she replied quietly; it wasn't the whole truth but she wasn't ready to deal with this yet. She gently pushed him back down onto his pillow and laid her head on his chest, listening to the steady rhythm of his heart. "I'm alright now, I promise."</p><hr/><p>She was awake again an hour later, palms slick with sweat and red light, ribs tight with panic. This time she managed to slip out of bed without waking Kurt, tugging on a red robe over her silky pajamas and padding out into the hall in search of coffee.</p><p>The mansion was dark and quiet but a light gleamed golden in the kitchen. It almost made her retreat back to Kurt's room, but she wasn't eager to return to her nightmares so she squared her shoulders and breezed through the door like she owned the place.</p><p>Doctor McCoy sat at the breakfast table, a book splayed on the checkered tablecloth and a rather dainty teacup by his elbow.</p><p>He glanced up from the book, a pair of spectacles perched precariously on his furry face. He blinked once at her, his only sign of surprise before he offered a polite "Good morning, Miss Maximoff."</p><p>"Good morning," she replied curtly, neither of them acknowledging that morning was still hours away. They also didn't acknowledge her presence in this house at one o'clock in the morning; of course everyone knew about her and Kurt, and she was around more often than they knew, but it was still strange, being here but not being a part of the team. She felt like an outsider.</p><p>"I brewed a pot of my tea; you're welcome to it if you like."</p><p>"Thank you."</p><p>She poured herself a steaming cup of what smelled like ginseng and leaned back against the counter, savoring the warmth of it in the chill of early morning. It was a comforting, steady warmth, so unlike the burning energy of her nightmare attacks. She knew her powers had changed in Sinister's lab, but this was so...violent. She hadn't lost control of her powers like this since she was a child.</p><p>That brought her back to her dreams. She could still hear the screams inside her head. <em>Witch! Devil worshipper!</em> They had chased her down because she couldn't keep her powers hidden. Because she'd lost control.</p><p><em>No</em>, she reminded herself, her grip on her teacup tightening, <em>that hadn't been her fault. It had been their hatred and prejudice. </em></p><p>"Is something troubling you, Miss Maximoff?"</p><p>She startled back to the present to find Doctor McCoy looking at her with concern, and realized that her hands were glowing red, splintered cracks appearing in the teacup.</p><p>She set it down with a jolt that sent hot tea splashing over the counter, cursing as she reached for a dish rag. A large blue-furred hand intercepted it first, neatly mopping up the spill.</p><p>"I'm sorry," she said, "I don't know what happened."</p><p>"No worries, Miss Maximoff."</p><p>"I think you could call me Wanda, doctor."</p><p>"Alright then, Wanda," he gently placed both the cracked teacup and the dishrag in the sink, "why don't you tell me what's troubling you?"</p><p>She crossed her arms but didn't fold into herself. This wasn't a retreat. "It's nothing, really."</p><p>"Is it you and Kurt? Are you experiencing relationship issues-"</p><p>"No, no," she said quickly, then swallowed, "it's my powers. After Sinister and Apocalypse and the horsemen, they're...different. Stronger, more...erratic."</p><p>"Fascinating." He took off his spectacles and hung them from his shirt collar. "Have you been testing them at all?"</p><p>Wanda shook her head. "I hardly have the time these days. I've been trying not to use them since I returned, but sometimes I can't stop them."</p><p>"Hm." He tapped his chin. "I know it's your prerogative to leave before breakfast, but perhaps you should stay for one of our morning Danger Room training sessions?"</p><p>"I wouldn't want to impose."</p><p>"It could give you some insight into what you can do and what has changed."</p><p>She considered for a moment. She might not want to talk about her nightmares, but this she could face. Maybe if she dealt with her wild powers her nightmares would go away. Finally she nodded, "Alright. I'll do it."</p><hr/><p>Wanda went back to bed, tucking herself in next to Kurt. She didn't sleep. Whether that was because of her nightmares or her conversation with Doctor McCoy, she wasn't sure, but she spent the rest of the night staring at the ceiling and wondering what the next day would bring.</p><p>Would she be able to control her powers during training?</p><p>Would she look like a fool?</p><p>Would she look like a fool <em>in front of Kurt</em>?</p><p>As dawn poured pink light in through the windows Kurt stirred, sighed, and opened his eyes. He blinked once at her and smiled, still groggy, "You're still here."</p><p>She propped herself up on an elbow, reaching out with her free hand to smooth the fur of his bare shoulder. "Doctor McCoy invited me to stay for the morning training."</p><p>He sat up, immediately more alert. "I have afternoon training today but I can get Rogue to switch with me-"</p><p>She hadn't expected him to be this excited. "You don't have to do that."</p><p>He grinned, pulling her to his side. "Are you afraid I'll beat you?"</p><p>She kissed him softly on the mouth. "Darling, I'd like to see you try."</p><hr/><p>They stepped into the Danger Room to find Kitty and Bobby already waiting. Bobby yawned and stretched. Kitty waved from across the room.</p><p>"It's about time you guys showed up," she said, "we're about to get started."</p><p>"Get started with what, exactly?" asked Wanda, looking around the long metal chamber. It was almost featureless, aside from the door and a glass-fronted viewing room.</p><p>Bobby sighed; he did not look thrilled to be there. "You'll see."</p><p>Kitty raised her voice, "Initiate DR program Brawler, level four."</p><p>For a moment nothing happened, then an automated metallic voice replied, "DR program Brawler, level four, initiated."</p><p>Following this pronouncement came the sounds of machinery whirring as metal panels in the walls, floor, and ceiling opened. Out came large motion-censor blasters, swinging blades, lasers, and an assortment of other obstacles.</p><p>Wanda's eyes widened. "<em>This</em> is how you train?"</p><p>Kurt grinned. "Still think you can beat me?"</p><p>She had a quippy reply on the tip of her tongue but forgot it as a white-hot blast of energy whizzed straight for her, forcing her to duck, falling into a roll that brought her back up into a crouch seconds later.</p><p>Wanda barely heard Kitty call out "The last one standing wins!" as she sprang to her feet and broke into a sprint, scarlet energy already tingling at her fingertips.</p><p><em>Steady now</em>, she thought, but she was already caught up in the adrenaline rush. She'd always been competitive, trying to prove herself to her father or get the better of her brother. That hadn't always been easy; Pietro's speed was an unmatched advantage, but she'd learned to outsmart him.</p><p>Now all she had to do was outsmart a few machines.</p><p>Dodging through a grid of lasers, she aimed two precise bolts of scarlet energy at the high, ceiling-mounted blasters, which exploded in sparking glory. The others fought their own battles, Kitty phasing through a swinging blade but falling into a pool of water as the floor fell out from under her, Bobby taking pot shots at various weapons from behind an ice shield, Kurt teleporting his way through the obstacle course. Wanda had to admit that they were formidable, but she still intended to win.</p><p>To prove that she <em>could</em> control her powers.</p><p>Then she found herself hemmed in by thick metal walls, cornered by no less than three blasters. This was level <em>four</em>? Had someone changed the program? It didn't matter; she could take it.</p><p>Wanda raised her arms, radiant spheres of scarlet energy swelling around her hands, so much raw <em>power </em>filling her whole body. She couldn't channel it all. A scream tore free of her throat as it exploded in a blast of light that atomized the blasters and the walls, rippling like a shock wave through the whole room. She turned to try and warn the others but she was only fast enough to see a rush of energy hurl Kurt ten feet into the air and slam him into a wall. He slid to the ground and didn't get up.</p><p>"Kurt!" Wanda sprinted across the room and fell to her knees at his side. "Are you alright?"</p><p>"I'm fine-<em>austch</em>." He touched a three-fingered hand to his head and winced- "I'll be alright. It isn't called the <em>Danger Room</em> for nothing."</p><p>"Are you two okay?" asked Kitty, appearing beside them. Bobby quickly followed her.</p><p>"We're fine." Kurt managed to drawn himself into a sitting position, though he still looked dazed, eyes glassy with pain.</p><p>"Wow," said Bobby, "I've never seen someone do anything like this."</p><p>"Like what?" asked Wanda, but she saw it as she raised her head; the Danger Room was wrecked, every blaster and laser exploded, a jagged, red-edged fissure torn through the floor and up one wall. Energy fizzed hot in the air. It looked like a war zone.</p><p>Had she done that?</p><p><em>That's</em> what hit Kurt?</p><p>He should be dead.</p><p>A large shadow fell over them and Wanda looked up to see Doctor McCoy looking chagrined.</p><p>"I'm afraid this incident may be my fault," he said regretfully, "I turned the program up to level eight. I wanted to test Miss Maximoff's powers, and I thought a higher setting would be beneficial."</p><p>"It's not your fault," Wanda said, a hard note in her voice as she helped Kurt stand. He wobbled a little. "It's mine."</p><hr/><p>She went home to Genosha. Called Blink from the War Room and was standing alone in her own chambers minutes later, stripping off her dirty training clothes and wishing she could strip away the morning's events.</p><p>That surge of savage power.</p><p>The sound of metal rending.</p><p>Kurt laying crumpled on the floor.</p><p>
  <em>What was happening too her?</em>
</p><p>After a quick bath and her normal morning rituals she went about her day as usual, though the morning training session haunted her through all of her meetings <em>and</em> lunch with Lorna. Though she hid it well she couldn't stop feeling guilty and powerless. She was supposed to be capable, competent, independent, but still feeling the effects of what Sinister and Apocalypse did to her made her feel like a victim.</p><p>Wanda hated feeling like a victim.</p><p>So when she got news of a transmission from the institute she hesitated to answer it. What would she say to Kurt after this morning? Could she even look him in the eyes knowing that she'd hurt him? She could have brought down the entire mansion.</p><p>The thought made her sick.</p><p>But she had to face him at some point so she found herself standing in the communications tower, a forced smile on her face.</p><p>"Wanda," said Kurt, looking none the worse for wear. He'd gone to the med bay for a mild concussion before she'd left that morning. "I had some time and I wanted to see you."</p><p>Wanda's forced smile softened. Of course she knew he was checking on her after this morning, but it wasn't unusual for them to call each other when they had the time, even if it was just for a few minutes.</p><p>"I'm glad you called," she said, "it's been a long day."</p><p>"Ach, at least you don't have to babysit," he groused, flopping back into the communications chair. "Tildie always wins at board games."</p><p>Wanda didn't have to ask to know that he'd been relegated to babysitter because of his concussion. She also didn't have to ask to know that Tildie only won because he let her.</p><p>She sighed, feeling guilty. "Sometimes it feels like babysitting." Babysitting a whole island of mutants. "More mutant refugees are coming in today. I really should be going; I like to meet every new arrival."</p><p>"I'll see you tonight," he said hopefully, the statement almost bending into a question.</p><p>She fought the sudden urge to look away. "Actually, I was thinking that I might stay here for a few days."</p><p>His brow furrowed. "Is this about the Danger Room? You didn't hit me that hard, and it happens all the time in training. Bobby is sloppy-"</p><p>"I wasn't sloppy." She said forcefully. "I can't control my powers and it's dangerous...<em>I'm</em> dangerous."</p><p>"Then let me help you-"</p><p>"No, Kurt." She put her hand on the communications switchboard. "I just-I need some time."</p><p>Then she switched it off.</p><hr/><p>She didn't speak to him again for a week. Every time Scanner found Wanda she made up some excuse about having a luncheon or a meeting, though she knew he would see right through her farce. She lied to herself, too, telling herself that she had too much on her plate to worry about her powers. She had all of Genosha to look after, and the small nation's relationship with humans was still tenuous at best. So she simply avoided using her powers and drowned all of her fears in her work.</p><p>The nightmares grew worse every night.</p><p>Dark dreams from her childhood, twisted reveries of her time under Sinister's influence, night terrors where she watched her family die and her city burn to ashes.</p><p>During the day she could be the independent sovereign, the hand guiding Genosha into a bright future, but at night in her bed she only felt alone. She missed Pietro. She needed her father. She wanted Kurt.</p><p>The only person who saw her pain was Lorna.</p><p>"You can't keep pushing yourself like this," she said at lunch one day; they were dining in the gardens, the only truly peaceful place on the palace grounds. "You can't do everything by yourself."</p><p>"I delegate," Wanda replied, stabbing a grape with her fork. She wasn't really hungry, just achingly tired after a restless night, but she popped it into her mouth anyways. She had to keep up her strength, not to mention appearances. "I have you and Blink. I have an entire mutant council."</p><p>"You know what I mean. You need to <em>talk</em> to someone, Wanda. You had Kurt but now you never talk to him, or anyone else." She blinked her wide green eyes. "You can talk to me, you know."</p><p>"When did you get so grown up?" Wanda sighed, pushing her plate away. "I don't think I can solve anything by talking, it's far more complicated than that."</p><p>"You love each other," Lorna said with absolute naive faith, "what could be simpler than that?"</p><hr/><p>It took two more days for Wanda to realize that Lorna was right.</p><p>She loved Kurt and if she wanted this relationship to work she'd have to let herself be vulnerable sometimes. She'd have to let him help her.</p><p>She didn't try to contact him through the communications tower; she knew this would be better in person, so she asked Blink to take her to the institute.</p><p>They teleported straight onto the front steps, and Wanda knocked on the door. It was answered a moment later by Logan, who took one look at her and frowned.</p><p>"Come crying back?" he asked, leaning against the door jamb instead of letting her in. "Or do you have a good excuse for giving Kurt the cold shoulder?"</p><p>Wanda didn't know what to say. She'd almost gotten used to the gossip mill that was the X mansion, though it was decidedly strange and uncomfortable having <em>Wolverine</em> concerned with her personal life.</p><p>Logan clearly read her expression, "It's not hard to figure out that you two are having relationship troubles." he made quotation marks with his fingers as he said the last part. "He's been mopey all week."</p><p>"He has not been mopey," said Ororo, appearing behind Logan. She smiled warmly. "Hello Wanda-Logan, why don't you go find Kurt?"</p><p>"Fine," grunted Logan. He grumbled as he walked away, "<em>I</em> can tell that he's mopey."</p><p>Ororo turned back to Wanda. "Would you like a cup of tea?"</p><p>"Oh, no thank you. I'm just here to see Kurt."</p><p>Logan did not find Kurt, and neither did Ororo. He wasn't in the mansion or the immediate grounds, but Wanda followed a hunch and finally found him beneath the cliffs, perched on a tumble of boulders and staring pensively out over the sunlit waves.</p><p>"I'm sorry," she said, sitting down on the rocks beside him; they were cool and dry beneath her thighs. "I shouldn't have shut you out like that. The truth is...I don't know what to do. It's like my powers don't even belong to me anymore."</p><p>He finally turned to face her, the bright mid-afternoon sunlight gilding the places of his face. She could see the hurt in his eyes, but no scorn or anger.</p><p>"I want to help you Wanda, but I can't do that if you don't talk to me. I want to know that you trust me."</p><p>"I do. I promise I do. I want-" she broke off, looking away and then back, "I want help. I should have come to you first, and I'm sorry I didn't, but I'm ready to let you help me."</p><p>He took her hands in his. "Of course I will help you. Your powers may be more volatile now but you just need to train. It may take time but you can master your powers again."</p><p>Wanda shook her head. "I can't. I don't want to hurt anyone."</p><p>"You don't have to do group training. There doesn't have to be anyone else there."</p><p>"And if I ruin your Danger Room again?"</p><p>He shrugged. "Forge needs a good challenge once in a while."</p><hr/><p>A new routine was born: nights with Kurt at the institute; early pre-dawn mornings in the Danger Room, starting at the very lowest setting; days tending to her duties on Genosha. It felt good to take action, to work through exercises in the DR until she was exhausted and sweating, to finally fight to take her powers back.</p><p>And it worked, slowly but surely, as she beat each level of the Danger Room with fewer and fewer mortally wounded machines, she started to regain control of her powers. They were still unwieldy, wild, but she could leash them like a rabid dog, train them into submission. It wasn't perfect but it was working, oh, god, it was working, and she was so relieved it hurt.</p><p>Even her nightmares got better.</p><p>Until they got suddenly, violently worse.</p><p>
  <em>She was a little girl lost in the snow, towering black trees stretching bare branches across the sky like a cage. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>She was looking for her brother but couldn't find him anywhere, the vast icebound silence eating up her cries. "Pietro? Pietro!"</em>
</p><p>
  <em>She was running through the forest, enormous gray wolves chasing her, their breaths a rank fog ghosted against the back of her neck, their snarls and howls drowning out her screams. Then they were upon her, bearing her into the powdery snow, teeth tearing at her skin-teeth that turned to pitchforks with cold iron claws, the howls of the wolves morphing into shouted profanity. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>"Witch! Witch! Get the little witch! Burn the devil out of her!"</em>
</p><p>Then she was awake and screaming in a room that burned red.</p><p>Scarlet light danced over the walls, pulsing like a beating heart, waves of it radiating from her skin. The air in the room was charged with energy, like gunpowder waiting for a match to be struck.</p><p>"Wa<em>nda.</em>" Distantly she felt Kurt's hands on her shoulders, his wide eyes and tousled hair swimming in the bloodred haze.</p><p>"<em>Stay back.</em>" She didn't want to hurt him again so she pushed him away, but her powers fed off her panic and a surge of energy shoved him back, toppling him off the edge of the bed.</p><p>
  <em>BAMF</em>
</p><p>He was back in an instant, and this time instead of pushing him away she withdrew to the far edge of the bed, fists clenched in an attempt to contain the force of her powers.</p><p>"Wanda," he said, surprisingly calm as he crouched on the bed. "Wherever you were, whatever you dreamed, it's not real. You're safe here."</p><p>"Don't you think I know that?" she said, harsh and desperate, the blaze of scarlet light filling the room brightening. Her voice trembled slightly; it felt like there was a scream trapped in her throat. "Don't you think I would stop it if I could?"</p><p>Dimly, she heard someone knock on the door.</p><p>"Don't come it!" shouted Kurt, and Wanda was grateful for it. <em>This</em> was bad enough without having every X-Man in the damned mansion as a witness to her weakness.</p><p>"Wanda, you have to calm down, please," he reached for her and she flinched back. "You're not going to hurt me." He took her hand and pulled her to him, wrapping both arms tightly around her. She held herself tense and rigid for a moment, eyes filled with red light, but she softened against him when nothing terrible happened, letting him hold her.</p><p>He muttered a prayer in German into her hair, fingers stroking soothing patterns along the skin of her neck and shoulders.</p><p>Slowly she calmed down enough to breathe properly, and realized that apart from their breathing the room was silent again. She could hear no noise in the mansion, though surely anyone who'd heard her outburst was wondering what had happened. Hopefully she would be able to disappear before facing the well-meaning but often prying questions of the other X-Men.</p><p>"Wanda," Kurt's quiet voice broke the silence as he stroked her hair, "can you tell me about it?"</p><p>Wanda didn't even want to think about it.</p><p>But he deserved to know that she trusted him. Completely. Even with her deepest scars.</p><p>"My nightmares..." she began, but trailed off. It was still hard to look her worst dreams in the face, give voice to her fears. "When I was a child I lived with my mother, traveling through rural areas of Europe. My father...I never knew him until later, when he came for me and Pietro. If I was human I never would have met him. He never..." she swallowed down that thought and continued. "When my powers manifested we were in a small mountain village. I got lost gathering firewood and when night fell I got scared. I couldn't control my powers then, and they always came out when I was frightened. The people there were superstitious, and when someone saw me in the forest they thought I was a witch. It was their custom to burn witches." Her hands curled into fists. "I'd never known such hatred before, and I've never been so afraid as I was then."</p><p>Kurt was silent for a long moment, then he said, "You know that when the Professor found me, I was being hunted by a mob that wanted to kill me for looking like a devil."</p><p>"No." Wanda's breath caught. She <em>hadn't</em> known that.</p><p>"I suppose it never came up," he continued with forced lightness. "It was a small, superstitious village, and the people there decided I was evil incarnate," his voice was impossibly soft, "they beat me, and would have killed me if the Professor hadn't stepped in. I forgave them, but that doesn't mean I can forget."</p><p>"Do you ever dream about it?"</p><p>He let out a breath that stirred her hair. "That night and many others. This life...this world is not often kind to the different."</p><p>As dawn light crept in through the blinds, they finally fell asleep tangled together, warm bodies pressed close enough to feel the others' heartbeat, and this time Wanda dreamed of being safe and loved instead of afraid.</p>
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